The thoughts of me and my dog who used to be Harvey, but is now George, who is Harvey's great-great-great-great-nephew.

Sunday, July 02, 2017

Pensioners' Day Out

We made it! Husband and I had a day out in Dyffryn Gardens. A Date Day if you like. ('Why are you calling it that?' Husband said. 'It's not a date; it's a day out.' Honestly, I don't know why I bother.) Having failed to spend the day together the previous Friday we made a special effort this week and went to Dyffryn Gardens, a National Trust property near Cardiff.We were there last year in the Spring and I wanted to go again to see the summer flowers. On that level it was a bit disappointing as again the gardens seemed to be in-between their best but it was still enjoyable.Best bits. The gardens.

A travelling puppet show took place over the course of the afternoon that explains the flamingo in the morning room, the nuns on bicycles and the ostrich in the billiard room.

The sculpture trail. The family owning the house at the beginning of the twentieth century made their their money from coal. These two images reflect that, the first showing the contract between the beauty of the gardens and the ugliness of the industry while the second pays tribute to the families of miners who lived in dreadful conditions (while the mine owner lived a life of luxury).

Sculptor: Lyndon Mabley

Sculptor: Mandy Lane

The final piece on the trail is this one on the south terrace. Atop is a butterfly egg while on the sides are 187 butterflies made of lead from bullets collected from the battlefields of the Somme. Each butterfly represents one million lives lost in wars since the end of the 'war to end all wars'.